LETTERS 05/09/08

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Secondly, we hear much talk about reducing our dependence on foreign oil. How will that happen unless our own supplies of oil are taken out of the ground and refined?

How about all of the endless lines of people using drive-throughs at fast-food restaurants? The gas they waste while idling contributes to the cost of fuel.

Come on, people. Wake up to what you’re wasting.

Dave Maxey

Blue Springs

Making a preacher cuss

The irony in Pat Oliphant’s cartoon depicting the Rev. Jeremiah Wright on Barack Obama’s back (5/2) was totally lost on two letter writers (5/6). I have to admit, it was totally lost on me. I, too, was bothered by it. Then, mulling over their letters, I “got it.”

Oliphant is echoing the curse that the Rev. Wright pronounced on America, and censoring the offending word would vitiate the cartoon’s message.

Here’s some more irony to chew on. Does anyone recall the old exclamation, “It’s enough to make a preacher cuss!”? We never took it seriously; it was just a figure of speech to emphasize a point. We knew full well no preacher would ever cuss.

But the Rev. Wright did cuss, and instead of dismissing him out of hand, maybe we should be discussing just what it is about America that is so bad that it could make a preacher cuss.

I personally think the Rev. Wright went a bit far, but clearly his frustrations over the likelihood of ever attaining liberty and justice for all in this country have nearly overwhelmed him.

Ralph D. Hile

Merriam

Lengthy Democratic campaign

This fear of breaking up the Democratic Party needs to be looked at objectively and overcome (5/4, A-1, “Weary Dems grind along”).

For years the Republicans have branded the Democratic Party as fractious and fearful. This framing has been quite successful as we continue to lose seats in the house, Senate and the White House itself over issues of national security.

So now we are proving that branding is true by being fearful and fractious of the very political process that makes the United States vibrant and interesting. I am a big fan of Sen. Claire McCaskill, but I don’t agree with her assessment that the lengthy campaign season is a danger to the party.

Let’s show the Republicans that the Democratic Party believes in the system of democracy, let the campaign play out, and reunite when the primaries are over.

Don’t be scared of conflict in our own party. See it as part of the necessary process to achieve the ultimate goal — to chose the very best candidate for the most important job in the world.

Lisa Stockton

Lawrence

The longer the Democratic race for the presidential nomination goes on, the more I tend to see Sen. Clinton as a candidate of the Republican Party than the Democratic one. Be it her stance on the oil gas revenue, in which she sides with Sen. McCain for cutting the price of gas by suspending the highway tax, or her distance from the media, which she accuses of backing her opponent.

More recently, Sen. Clinton appeared on “The O’Reilly Factor” on Fox News and, along with Bill O’Reilly, criticized the NBC network for its bias. Wow, is this the same Sen. Clinton who once accused the far right of conspiring against her and Bill Clinton?

Sen. Obama is the candidate who calls for change in this election, and yet it is a change of a very different kind that we now witness in Sen. Clinton.

I guess that’s what we call the politics of Washington.

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